Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) Short Interest Up 5.8% in November

Flowserve Co. (NYSE:FLS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,450,000 shares, a growth of 5.8% from the November 15th total of 1,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Flowserve Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE FLS opened at $61.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.41. Flowserve has a 12 month low of $39.21 and a 12 month high of $62.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.05). Flowserve had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. Flowserve’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Flowserve will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowserve Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Flowserve’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowserve

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FLS. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Flowserve by 155.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,624,919 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $126,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,429 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Flowserve by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,748,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,221,000 after purchasing an additional 663,631 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Flowserve by 197.6% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 913,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,207,000 after purchasing an additional 606,416 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Flowserve during the second quarter valued at approximately $23,911,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Flowserve by 34.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,664,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $86,055,000 after buying an additional 422,141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FLS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on Flowserve from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Flowserve from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $69.00 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Flowserve from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Flowserve from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Flowserve in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.40.

About Flowserve

Flowserve Corporation designs, manufactures, distributes, and services industrial flow management equipment in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through Flowserve Pump Division (FPD) and Flow Control Division (FCD) segments. The FPD segment offers custom and pre-configured pumps and pump systems, mechanical seals, auxiliary systems, replacement parts, upgrades, and related aftermarket services; and equipment services, including installation and commissioning services, seal systems spare parts, repairs, advanced diagnostics, re-rate and upgrade solutions, retrofit programs, and machining and asset management solutions, as well as manufactures a gas-lubricated mechanical seal for use in high-speed compressors for gas pipelines and in the oil and gas production and process markets.